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Francis  Par  km  an 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 

M 

1896 


Copyright,  1896, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


plrancis  Parkman. 

"  One  of  the  convincing  tests  of  genius  is  the  choice  of  a  theme,  and  no 
greater  felicity  can  befall  it  than  to  find  one  both  familiar  and  fresh.  All 
the  better  if  tradition,  however  attenuated,  have  made  it  already  friendly 
with  our  fancy.  In  the  instinct  that  led  him  straight  to  subjects  that  seemed 
waiting  for  him  so  long,  Mr.  Parkman  gave  no  uncertain  proof  of  his  fitness 
for  an  adequate  treatment  of  them."  —  JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 

THE  greatest  of  all  American  historians  was  indeed  excep- 
tionately  fortunate  in  his  choice  of  a  subject.  Writing 
as  he  did  of  the  colonization  of  North  America  from  the  land- 
ing of  Champlain,  and  of  the  warfare  between  France  and  Eng- 
land for  the  control  of  the  American  continent,  his  theme  is 
so  closely  allied  to  his  own  countrymen  that  it  must  always  have 
a  special  interest  for  them  and  for  the  people  of  Canada,  upon  the 
early  history  and  settlement  of  which  country  he  has  thrown  so 
much  light,  and  in  regard  to  which  he  has  aroused  such  great 
attention.  Notwithstanding  physical  infirmities,  he  lived  to  com- 
plete his  work,  and  to  bring  his  series  of  historical  narratives  down 
to  the  year  1 760,  when  Canada  passed  with  the  death  of  Mont- 
calm  from  the  hands  of  the  French  to  be  ruled  by  the  nation 
that  had  fought  more  than  half  a  century  for  its  possession. 

The  remarkable  series  of  histories  grouped  under  the  general 
title  of  "  France  and  England  in  North  America"  may  truly  be 
termed  the  life  work  of  their  gifted  author.  He  was  but  a 
youth  of  eighteen  at  Harvard  College  when  he  conceived  the 
plan  of  writing  a  history  of  the  French  and  Indian  Wars,  and 
his  vacations  at  that  time  were  passed  adventurously  and  in  a 
way  which  familiarized  him  with  scenes  in  which  the  actors  in 
his  historical  drama  had  moved.  In  the  year  1846  he  made 
with  a  friend  his  notable  journey  across  the  continent,  to  the 
desert  plains  and  mountains  and  the  Indian  camps  of  the  far 
West.  "  I  went,"  says  the  author  in  the  preface  to  the  fourth 
edition  of  "  The  Oregon  Trail,"  "  as  a  student,  to  prepare  for  a 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 


literary  undertaking  of  which  the  plan  was  already  formed. 
My  business  was  observation,  and  I  was  willing  to  pay  dearly 
for  the  opportunity  of  exercising  it"  He  camped  among  the 
Sioux  Indians,  listened  to  Indian  legends,  and  studied  Indian 
customs,  but  paid  dearly  indeed  for  the  opportunity,  for  he 
became  through  the  exposure  an  invalid  for  life. 

"The  Oregon  Trail,"  an  autobiographical  narrative  of  the 
journey,  was  first  published  in  1847  in  the  Knickerbocker 
Magazine ;  and  four  years  later  the  author  gave  to  the  world  his 
first  historical  work,  "  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  pronounced 
by  the  eminent  historian,  Dr.  John  Fiske,  "  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  fascinating  books  that  has  ever  been  written  by 
any  historian  since  the  days  of  Herodotus."  From  that  year 
until  the  completion  of  his  work  with  the  publication  of  "  A 
Half  Century  of  Conflict"  in  1892,  he  occupied  himself  with 
the  preparation  of  his  series  of  historical  narratives,  "  France 
and  England  in  North  America,"  laboriously  searching  through 
the  French  archives  and  elsewhere  for  his  authorities,  and 
dictating  to  an  amanuensis  at  such  times  as  the  condition  of  his 
health  would  permit.  The  authorities  he  collected  from  the 
large  number  of  documents  and  letters  examined  fill  seventy 
folio  volumes  of  manuscript,  and  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  The  wealth  of  material 
was  selected  from  immense  accumulations  in  France,  England, 
and  America,  mostly  unpublished  and  in  manuscript.  Per- 
sonal visits  had  to  be  made  to  the  Archives  de  la  Marine  et 
des  Colonies,  the  Archives  de  la  Guerre,  and  the  Archives 
Nationals  at  Paris,  and  the  Public  Record  Office  and  the 
British  Museum  in  London,  to  obtain  manuscript  copies,  it  be- 
ing necessary  to  have  the  authorities  constantly  at  hand.  The 
colonial  records  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  other  States 
were  also  carefully  examined. 

The  initial  volume  of  the  series,  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the 
New  World,"  was  published  in  1865.  It  is  divided  into  two 
parts.  I.  The  Huguenots  in  Florida.  II.  Champlain  and  his 
Associates.  He  described  the  subject  of  the  proposed  series 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  3 

as  the  attempt  of  Feudalism,  Monarchy,  and  Rome  to  dominate 
the  American  continent,  the  rise  and  growth  of  North  America, 
and  the  conflict  of  nations,  races,  and  principles  for  its  mastery. 
He  had  for  the  scenes  of  his  great  historical  pictures  the  whole 
United  States  and  Canada,  from  Quebec  to  Florida  and  Louisi- 
ana, and  from  Massachusetts  to  the  Western  Frontier.  In  the 
preface  to  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World  "  Parkman 
epitomized  his  purpose  in  a  passage  which  was  given  a  place  of 
honor  in  Edmund  Clarence  Stedman's  "  Library  of  American 
Literature."  He  said  :  — 

"  New  France  was  all  head.  Under  king,  noble,  and  Jesuit,  the  lank, 
lean  body  would  not  thrive.  Even  commerce  wore  the  sword,  decked 
itself  with  badges  of  nobility,  aspired  to  forest  seignories  and  hordes  of 
savage  retainers.  Along  the  borders  of  the  sea  an  adverse  power  was 
strengthening  and  widening,  with  slow  but  steadfast  growth,  full  of 
blood  and  muscle,  —  a  body  without  a  head.  Each  had  its  strength, 
each  its  weakness,  each  its  own  modes  of  vigorous  life :  but  the  one  was 
fruitful,  the  other  barren ;  the  one  instinct  with  hope,  the  other  darken- 
ing with  shadows  of  despair.  By  name,  local  position,  and  character, 
one  of  these  communities  of  freemen  stands  forth  as  the  most  conspicu- 
ous representative  of  this  antagonism,  —  Liberty  and  Absolutism,  New 
England  and  New  France.  .  .  .  The  expansion  of  New  France  was  the 
achievement  of  a  gigantic  ambition  striving  to  grasp  a  continent.  It  was 
a  vain  attempt.  .  .  .  Borne  down  by  numbers  from  without,  wasted  by 
corruption  from  within,  New  France  fell  at  last ;  and  out  of  her  fall  grew 
revolutions  whose  influence  to  this  hour  is  felt  through  every  nation  of 
the  civilized  world.  The  French  dominion  is  a  memory  of  the  past ;  and 
when  we  evoke  its  departed  shades  they  rise  upon  us  from  their  graves 
in  strange,  romantic  guise.  Again  their  ghostly  campfires  seem  to  burn, 
and  the  fitful  light  is  cast  around  on  lord  and  vassal  and  black-robed 
priest,  mingled  with  wild  forms  of  savage  warriors,  knit  in  close  fellow- 
ship on  the  same  stern  errand.  A  boundless  vision  grows  upon  us ;  an 
untamed  continent ;  vast  wastes  of  forest  verdure  ;  mountains  silent  in  pri- 
meval sleep  ;  river,  lake,  and  glimmering  pool ;  wilderness  oceans  mingling 
with  the  sky.  Stick  was  the  domain  which  France  conquered  for  civilization. 
Plumed  helmets  gleamed  in  the  shade  of  its  forests,  priestly  vestments  in 
its  dens  and  fastnesses  of  ancient  barbarism.  Men  steeped  in  antique 
learning,  pale  with  the  close  breath  of  the  cloister,  here  spent  the  noon 
and  evening  of  their  lives,  ruled  savage  hordes  with  a  mild,  parental 
sway,  and  stood  serene  before  the  direst  shapes  of  death.  Men  of  courtly 
nurture,  heirs  to  the  polish  of  a  far-reaching  ancestry,  here,  with  their 
dauntless  hardihood,  put  to  shame  the  boldest  sons  of  toil." 


4  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

Mr.  Parkman  did  not  at  once  achieve  popularity,  but  his 
"  Pioneers  of  France  "  received  cordial  appreciation  and  even 
aroused  enthusiasm  among  writers  and  critics.  The  tributes  to 
this  and  subsequent  works  are  not  surpassed  if  equalled  by  those 
accorded  to  any  previous  writer.  "  In  vigor  and  pointedness 
of  description,  Mr.  Parkman  may  be  counted  superior  to 
Irving,"  said  the  New  York  Tribune.  The  London  Athe- 
naeum accorded  him  "  a  place  alongside  of  the  greatest  histo- 
rians whose  works  are  English  classics."  The  late  George 
William  Curtis  referred  to  his  theme  as  "a  subject  which 
Mr.  Parkman  has  made  as  much  his  own  as  Motley  the  '  Dutch 
Republic,'  or  Macaulay  the  '  English  Revolution.' "  "He 
has  taken,"  said  The  Spectator,  "  musty  records,  skeletons  of 
facts,  dry  bones  of  barest  history,  and  breathed  on  them  that 
they  might  live."  His  books  have  been  pronounced  "  as  fas- 
cinating as  any  of  Scott's  novels ; "  he  has  been  termed  "  Easily 
the  first  of  living  historians ;  "  his  descriptions  of  Indian  life 
have  been  described  as  unsurpassed,  and  his  sketches  of  lake 
and  forest  scenery  praised  as  "  of  exquisite  beauty." 

"  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World  "  was  followed  in 
1867  by  "The  Jesuits  in  North  America."  " Few  passages  of 
history,"  said  the  author,  "are  more  striking  than  those  which 
record  the  efforts  of  the  earlier  French  Jesuits  to  convert  the 
Indians.  Full  as  they  are  of  dramatic  and  philosophic  inter- 
est, bearing  strongly  on  the  political  destinies  of  America,  and 
closely  involved  with  the  history  of  its  native  population,  it  is 
wonderful  that  they  have  been  left  so  long  in  obscurity." 

The  historian,  in  this  as  in  all  his  works,  endeavored  to  write 
with  the  utmost  fairness,  basing  all  his  conclusions  on  author- 
ities and  documents.  In  the  preface  to  a  later  work,  "A 
Half  Century  of  Conflict,"  he  says  :  "The  statements  of  second- 
ary writers  have  been  accepted  only  when  found  to  conform  to 
the  evidence  of  contemporaries  whose  writings  have  been 
sifted  with  the  greatest  care.  As  extremists  on  each  side 
have  charged  me  with  favoring  the  other,  I  hope  I  have  been 
unfair  to  neither." 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  5 

The  third  volume  in  the  series,  "  La  Salle  and  the  Dis- 
covery of  the  Great  West,"  appeared  in  1869,  and  embodied 
the  exploits  and  adventures  of  the  first  European  explorers  of 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  efforts  of  the  French  to 
secure  the  whole  interior  of  the  Continent,  the  attempt  of  La 
Salle  to  find  a  westward  passage  to  India,  his  colony  on  the 
Illinois,  his  scheme  of  invading  Mexico,  his  contest  with  the 
Jesuits,  and  his  assassination  by  his  own  followers.  The  leading 
personages  in  this  remarkable  narrative  are  the  intrepid  Cave- 
lier  de  la  Salle,  Henri  de  Tonty,  his  lieutenant,  Hennepin,  the 
historian  of  the  expedition,  Joliet  and  Marquette,  the  explorers 
of  the  Mississippi,  etc.  This  volume  is  of  especial  value  and 
interest  to  the  people  of  the  Northwest,  giving,  as  it  does,  the 
early  history  of  their  own  homes. 

Five  years  elapsed  before  the  author  was  able  to  complete 
the  fourth  volume  of  the  series,  "The  Old  Regime  in  Canada," 
which  was  published  in  1874.  In  the  preface  he  quotes  De 
Tocqueville,  who  said :  "  The  physiognomy  of  a  government 
can  best  be  judged  by  its  colonies,  for  there  its  characteristic 
traits  usually  appear  larger  and  more  distinct.  When  I  wish 
to  judge  of  the  spirit  and  the  faults  of  the  administration  of 
Louis  XIV.,  I  must  go  to  Canada.  Its  deformity  is  there 
seen  as  through  a  microscope."  Mr.  Parkman,  in  "The  Old 
Regime  in  Canada,"  portrayed  the  attempt  of  the  monarchical 
administration  of  France  to  make  good  its  hold  on  the  North 
American  continent.  "  The  means  of  knowing  the  Canada 
of  the  past,"  wrote  Mr.  Parkman,  "are  ample.  The  pen  was 
always  busy  in  this  outpost  of  the  old  monarchy.  The  king 
and  the  minister  demanded  to  know  everything ;  and  officials 
of  high  and  low  degree,  soldiers  and  civilians,  friends  and  foes, 
poured  letters,  despatches,  and  memorials,  on  both  sides  of 
every  question,  into  the  lap  of  the  government."  Among  the 
strikingly  important  events  treated  of  in  this  work  are  the  Jesuit 
Missions  to  Onondaga,  the  Holy  Wars  of  Montreal,  the  heroic 
death  of  Dollard  and  his  companions  at  Long  Saut,  the 
foundation  of  the  Laval  Seminary,  the  chastisement  of  the 


6  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

Mohawks,  the  importation  of  wives  for  the  Canada  emigrants, 
the  transplantation  of  feudalism  into  Canada,  the  develop- 
ment of  trade  and  industry  in  New  France,  etc. 

An  entire  volume  of  the  series  is  devoted  to  the  Life  of 
Count  Frontenac,  the  great  French  governor  of  Canada. 
"  Count  Frontenac  and  New  France  under  Louis  XIV."  was 
issued  in  1877.  Parkman  describes  him  in  the  preface  as 
"the  most  remarkable  man  who  ever  represented  the  crown 
of  France  in  the  New  World.  He  grew  with  every  emergency 
and  rose  equal  to  every  crisis.  Under  the  rule  of  Frontenac 
occurred  the  first  serious  collision  of  the  great  rival  Powers. 
.  .  .  The  present  volume  will  show  how  valiantly,  and  for  a 
time  how  successfully,  New  France  battled  against  a  fate 
which  her  own  organic  fault  made  inevitable.  Her  history  is 
a  great  and  significant  drama,  enacted  among  untamed  forests, 
with  a  distant  gleam  of  courtly  splendor  and  the  regal  pomp 
of  Versailles."  A  large  portion  of  the  volume  is  devoted  to 
the  warfare  between  the  French  and  English,  including  the 
Iroquois  Invasion,  the  attack  on  Schenectady,  the  unsuc- 
cessful Massachusetts  attack  on  Quebec  under  Sir  William 
Phips,  the  border  warfare  against  New  England,  and  the  war 
in  Acadia. 

With  the  possibility  that  he  might  not  live  to  complete  his 
design,  Mr.  Parkman  passed  over  the  period  between  1 700  and 
1748,  and  for  seven  years  devoted  himself  to  the  preparation  of 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  the  longest  of  his  works,  issued  in  two 
volumes,  in  1884.  His  popularity  had  been,  since  the  publi- 
cation of  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  constantly  increasing,  but 
"  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  "  at  once  directed  universal  attention 
to  his  writings,  and  gave  him  a  greater  reputation  than  he  had 
achieved  by  all  the  previous  volumes  of  the  series.  The  sub- 
ject, a  great  one,  had  never  before  received  the  study  and 
research  given  to  it  by  Parkman.  He  visited  and  examined 
every  spot  where  events  of  any  importance  in  connection  with 
the  contest  took  place,  examined  documents  in  the  archives 
and  libraries  of  France  and  England,  great  numbers  of  auto- 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  7 

graph  letters,  diaries,  etc.,  had  access  through  the  permission 
of  the  present  Marquis  de  Montcalm  to  all  the  letters  written 
by  General  Montcalm  to  members  of  his  family  in  France, 
searched  the  voluminous  records  of  the  colonial  history  of  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  used  in  the  preparation  of  the 
work  a  large  amount  of  unpublished  material,  the  papers 
copied  in  France  alone  exceeding  six  thousand  folio  pages  of 
manuscript.  He  began  the  work  with  sketches  of  the  condi- 
tion of  England  and  France  and  the  Colonies  in  the  eighteenth 
century  ( 1 745 ) ,  treated  of  the  conflict  for  the  West,  the  con- 
flict for  Acadia,  the  colony  of  Virginia  under  Dinwiddie,  and 
the  defeat  of  Washington  at  Fort  Necessity,  the  death  of 
Braddock,  the  removal  of  the  Acadians,  the  expedition  against 
Crown  Point,  Shirley  and  the  Border  War  in  1755-1756,  and 
the  arrival  of  Montcalm,  the  first  volume  concluding  with 
chapters  on  the  massacre  at  Fort  William  Henry. 

The  second  volume  opened  with  a  description  of  the  events 
in  the  years  1757-1758,  sketched  the  character  of  Intendant 
Bigot,  discussed  Pitt  and  Newcastle,  described  the  Siege  of 
Louisbourg,  the  destruction  of  Gaspe'  by  Wolfe,  the  death  of 
Howe  at  Ticonderoga,  the  expedition  of  Bradstreet  against 
Ticonderoga,  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  Governor 
Vaudreuil's  jealousy  of  Montcalm.  More  than  half  of  the 
volume  is  devoted  to  the  expedition  against  Quebec  under 
Wolfe,  the  capture  of  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  the  death  of 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  the  fall  of  Quebec,  and  the  description 
of  the  ruins  of  the  town,  the  volume  closing  with  chapters  on 
the  Fall  of  Canada  and  the  Peace  of  Paris. 

The  work  was  reviewed  in  the  United  States,  in  Canada, 
and  in  England  as  a  masterpiece  of  military  history  and  the 
first  authentic,  full,  sustained,  and  worthy  narrative  of  these 
momentous  events  and  extraordinary  men. 

The  author's  physical  condition  greatly  retarded  the  com- 
pletion of  his  labor;  but  in  1892,  fifty  years  after  he  had 
planned  his  history,  he  was  able  to  finish  his  task  with  the 
sixth  part  of  the  series,  "A  Half  Century  of  Conflict,"  in  two 


8  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

volumes,  the  preparation  of  which  had  been  put  aside,  as 
previously  stated,  in  order  that  he  might  write  the  work  which 
he  considered  of  the  utmost  importance  to  his  design,  "  Mont- 
calm  and  Wolfe."  "  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict "  covers  the 
years  1 700  to  1 748,  and  makes  the  series  form  a  continuous 
history  of  the  efforts  of  France  to  occupy  and  control  the 
American  Continent.  The  importance  of  the  at  one  time 
almost  unhoped  for  completion  of  this  great  literary  enterprise 
received  due  attention  on  all  sides. 

"The  completion  of  this  history,"  said  the  New  York 
Times,  "is  an  event  that  should  awaken  interest  wherever 
historical  genius  can  be  appreciated.  Since  Prescott,  Motley, 
and  Bancroft,  Francis  Parkman  alone  has  thoroughly  sustained 
American  reputation  in  this  field.  He  has  not  only  sustained, 
but  has  measurably  increased  that  reputation,  for  his  work 
ranks  with  the  most  brilliant  and  lasting  historical  undertak- 
ings that  have  marked  the  past  fifty  years.  The  charm  of 
his  narrative  is  not  greater  than  his  scholarship,  the  rare  im- 
portance of  his  theme  not  greater  than  the  sustained  interest 
with  which  he  has  carried  it  forward  to  completion." 

"We  doubt  not,"  said  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  "that  we 
express  the  feeling  of  the  whole  English-speaking  world  of 
literature  when  we  congratulate  the  author  upon  the  comple- 
tion of  the  imperishable  monument  which  commemorates  his 
own  noble  endeavor  and  the  glory  of  the  race  to  which  he 
belongs.  It  is  rare  indeed  that  a  literary  project  conceived  in 
youth  is  so  comprehensive  in  its  character,  and  is  pursued  so 
steadfastly  to  its  final  achievement  after  nearly  fifty  years  of 
toil,  under  discouragements  of  physical  privation  induced  by 
the  very  devotion  which  led  the  young  author  at  the  outset 
to  turn  his  back  upon  civilized  life,  and  to  cast  in  his  lot  for  a 
time  with  the  race  whose  ancestors  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part 
in  the  history  which  he  was  to  unfold." 

The  Century  Magazine,  in  commemoration  of  the  event, 
published  a  "Note  on  the  Completion  of  Mr.  Parkman's 
Work,"  by  Edward  Eggleston,  and  an  Essay,  "  Francis  Park- 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN,  9 

man,"  by  James  Russell  Lowell,  undertaken  by  him  at  the 
request  of  the  Editor  of  the  Magazine,  and  left  unfinished  at 
his  death.  It  was  the  last  piece  of  writing  prepared  by  Mr. 
Lowell  for  publication.  "It  is  a  great  merit  in  Mr.  Park- 
man,"  wrote  Lowell,  "  that  he  has  sedulously  culled  from  his 
ample  store  of  documents  every  warranted  piece  of  evidence 
that  could  fortify  or  enliven  his  narrative,  so  that  we  at  least 
come  to  know  the  actors  in  his  various  dramas  as  well  as  the 
events  in  which  they  shared.  And  thus  the  curiosity  of  the 
imagination  and  that  of  the  understanding  are  altogether  satis- 
fied. We  follow  the  casualties  of  battle  with  the  intense  in- 
terest of  one  who  has  friends  or  acquaintance  there.  Mr. 
Parkmarfs  familiarity  also  with  the  scenery  of  his  narratives 
is  so  intimate,  his  memory  of  the  eye  is  so  vivid,  as  almost  to 
persuade  us  that  ourselves  have  seen  what  he  describes.  We 
forget  ourselves,  to  swim  in  the  canoe  down  rivers  that  flow  out 
of  one  primeval  silence  to  lose  themselves  in  another,  or  to 
thread  those  expectant  solitudes  of  forest  (insuetum  nemus) 
that  seem  listening  with  stayed  breath  for  the  inevitable  axe,  and 
then  launch  our  birchen  egg-shells  again  on  lakes  that  stretch 
beyond  vision  into  the  fairyland  of  conjecture.  The  world 
into  which  we  are  led  touches  the  imagination  with  pathetic 
interest.  It  is  mainly  a  world  of  silence  and  of  expectation, 
awaiting  the  masters  who  are  to  subdue  it  and  to  fill  it  with 
the  tumult  of  human  life,  and  of  almost  more  than  human 
energy." 

Mr.  Eggleston,  in  his  Century  Magazine  article,  said  :  "  It  is 
possible  that  the  historian  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century  in  America  will  find  few  events  more  notable  than  the 
completion  of  the  work  of  Mr.  Francis  Parkman,  —  that  series 
of  historical  narratives,  now  at  last  grown  to  one  whole,  in 
which  the  romantic  story  of  the  rise,  the  marvellous  expansion, 
and  the  ill-fated  ending  of  the  French  power  in  North  America 
is  for  the  first  time  adequately  told.  Since  its  charms  have  been 
set  before  us  in  Mr.  Parkman's  picturesque  pages,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  that  it  is  one  of  the  finest  themes  that  ever  engaged 


10  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

the  pen  of  a  historian.  But  before  a  creative  spirit  had  brooded 
upon  it,  while  it  yet  lay  formless  and  void,  none  but  a  man  of 
original  genius  could  have  discovered  a  theme  fit  for  a  master 
in  the  history  of  a  remote  and  provincial  failure.  And  yet  in 
no  episode  of  human  history  is  the  nature  of  man  seen  in  more 
varied  action  than  in  this  story  of  the  struggles  of  France  and 
England  in  the  new  world.  ...  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
literature  of  America  can  show  any  historical  composition  at 
once  so  valuable  and  so  delightful  as  the  two  volumes  en- 
titled 'Montcalm  and  Wolfe,'  with  which  the  whole  work 
culminates." 

The  Nation,  reviewing  "A  Half  Century  of  Conflict," 
termed  the  work  "  the  completion  of  a  memorable  undertaking. 
The  task  was  one  of  the  most  important  to  which  an  American 
historian  could  devote  his  pen.  Mr.  Parkman's  painstaking 
research  has  earned  him  a  permanent  place  in  the  front  rank 
of  American  writers  of  history,  while  the  brilliancy  of  the  style 
in  which  his  thought  is  clothed  imparts  a  charm  to  his  narra- 
tive unsurpassed  by  that  of  Prescott  or  Motley.  He  may  well 
look  back  with  satisfaction  on  the  stately  series  of  volumes  in 
which  he  has  narrated  the  great  attempt  to  plant  on  American 
soil  the  civilization  and  institutions  of  royal  France,  —  a  drama 
heroic  and  tragic  enough  to  claim  the  admiration  of  those  who 
most  sincerely  rejoice  that  it  ended  in  essential  failure." 

"  If  we  have  objected  to  nothing  in  these  histories,"  wrote 
Mr.  W.  D.  Howells,  in  a  review  of  Parkman's  finished  works, 
"it  is  because  we  have  no  fault  to  find  with  them.  They 
appear  to  us  the  fruit  of  an  altogether  admirable  motive 
directing  indefatigable  industry,  and  they  present  the  evidence 
of  thorough  research  and  thoughtful  philosophization.  .  .  . 
Whatever  may  be  added  to  his  labors,  they  will  remain  un- 
disturbed as  thorough,  beautiful,  and  true." 

Constantly  engaged  as  Mr.  Parkman  was  in  the  examination 
of  documents,  letters,  and  archives  bearing  on  the  subject  of 
his  works,  new  material  not  at  hand  when  the  histories  were 
first  penned  was  at  various  times  discovered,  necessitating 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  II 

new  editions  of  several  of  his  works  with  important  revisions 
and  additions. 

The  new  edition  of  "  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  and  the 
Indian  War  after  the  Conquest  of  Canada,"  published  in  1870, 
was  enlarged  to  two  volumes,  a  large  amount  of  additional 
material  having  come  to  light,  notably  the  Bouquet  and 
Haldimand  papers  added  to  the  manuscript  collections  of 
the  British  Museum.  Although  originally  published  prior  to 
"  France  and  England  in  North  America,"  this  work  forms  a 
sequel  to  that  series. 

The  edition  of  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World  " 
published  in  1885  included  the  results  of  new  documentary 
evidence,  and  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  localities  con- 
nected with  the  French  occupation  of  Florida,  acquired  from  a 
special  visit  made  by  Mr.  Parkman  to  that  region. 

A  new  edition  of  "  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great 
West  "  appeared  in  1878  with  very  important  additions,  derived 
from  the  Margry  collection  of  documents  relating  to  La  Salle 
and  the  narrative  of  his  companion  Joutel.  Although  the  new 
material  confirmed  nearly  every  statement  made  in  the  first 
edition,  it  added  new  facts  and  threw  new  light  on  the  char- 
acter of  La  Salle,  so  that  the  author  found  it  desirable  to 
rewrite  the  work  and  to  add  a  map  of  the  country  traversed 
by  the  explorers. 

A  revised  edition  of  "  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada  "  was  pub- 
lished in  1893.  When  this  work  was  first  written,  the  author 
was  unable  to  obtain  access  to  indispensable  papers  relating  to 
the  rival  claimants  of  Acadia,  La  Tour  and  D'Aunay,  and 
therefore  deferred  treating  the  subject.  These  papers  after- 
wards came  to  hand,  and  the  missing  chapters,  embracing  fifty 
pages,  were  written  and  included  in  the  new  edition  under  the 
title  of  "The  Feudal  Chiefs  of  Acadia."  This  edition  also 
contains  other  additional  matter. 

Mr.  Parkman's  death  occurred  Nov.  8,  1893,  a  little  more 
than  a  year  after  the  completion  of  his  work.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  congratulation  that  not  only  did  he  live  to  finish  his 


12  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

undertaking,  but  that  he  was  able  to  revise  or  rewrite  such  of 
his  earlier  works  as  required  it  because  of  the  discovery  of 
new  material. 

At  a  special  meeting  held  shortly  after  Mr.  Parkman's  death 
by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  to  which  he  gave  his 
manuscripts  and  autobiography,  the  latter  afterwards  printed 
in  The  Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine,  the  following  minute 
was  adopted :  — 

"  The  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  would  relieve 
the  sadness  with  which  they  enter  upon  their  records  the  loss  by  death 
of  their  honored  and  eminent  associate,  Francis  Parkman,  by  assigning 
to  him  the  highest  awards  of  ability,  fidelity,  and  signal  success  as  an 
American  historian.  He  had  won  at  home  and  abroad  that  place  of 
chiefest  honor.  The  work  which  he  has  wrought  was  one  of  freshness, 
reserved,  because  it  had  been  seeking  and  waiting  for  him.  And  it 
came  to  him  with  all  its  attractions  and  exactions,  finding  in  him  the 
most  rare  and  richly  combined  qualities  of  genius,  aptitude,  taste,  and 
unique  sympathetic  fitness,  to  turn  its  romances,  heroisms,  and  enter- 
prises, with  the  enrichments  of  character  and  grace,  into  history.  Nor 
would  we  fail  to  express  our  respectful  and  admiring  estimate  of  the 
impressiveness  of  his  character,  of  his  noble  manliness,  his  gentle  mien 
and  ways,  and  the  patient  perseverance  of  his  spirit  in  its  triumphing 
over  physical  infirmities." 

At  the  memorial  services  held  at  Sanders  Theatre,  Cam- 
bridge, Dec.  7,  1893,  President  Charles  W.  Eliot  of  Harvard 
University  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  How  remarkable  is  his  work  when  we  consider  that  he  had  only  a 
few  moments  each  day  that  he  could  devote  to  study !  We  draw  from 
his  life  the  same  lesson  as  from  that  of  Darwin.  Not  more  than  twenty 
minutes  at  a  time  could  Darwin  devote  himself  to  his  work,  and  rarely 
more  than  twice  each  day ;  yet  see  the  store  of  knowledge  he  has  opened 
up  to  us.  With  Parkman  it  was  the  same.  Rarely  could  he  study  over 
half  an  hour  at  a  time,  yet  left  us  a  great  monument. 

"  His  ideal  manhood  was  the  highest  and  purest.  It  was  this  that  made 
the  tone  of  his  writing  so  ennobling  and  uplifting.  Above  all  things  he 
abhorred  fanaticism  and  intolerance,  and  very  naturally,  after  depicting 
the  physical  and  moral  sufferings  in  the  new  world. 

"  His  life  was  a  noble  lesson  to  students,  particularly  in  the  steadfast 
sticking  to  duty  to  the  very  last.  He  never  appeared  in  public.  He  did 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  13 

not  love  prominence.     His  influence  was  quiet  and  subtle.     But  his  name 
will  remain  long  in  human  memory/' 

Among  the  speakers  was  Dr.  John  Fiske,  who  said,  — 

"  Some  thirty  years  ago,  there  appeared  a  history  of  Pontiac.  It  at 
once  attracted  attention  because  it  made  real  men  of  the  Indians  and 
gave  a  true  insight  into  their  real  character  and  importance  in  history. 
It  was  because  Parkman  showed  a  full  knowledge  of  them  that  he  first 
got  hold  of  the  world.  He  was  more  powerful  than  Prescott  because  he 
was  true  to  life. 

"  He  was  a  great  historian  because  coupled  with  his  knowledge  were 
a  philosophic  insight  and  a  poetic  instinct.  We  can  be  thankful  to 
heaven  for  sending  us  such  a  scholar,  artist,  and  genius  before  it  was 
too  late. 

"  Parkman  is  the  most  American  of  all  our  historians  because  he  deals 
with  purely  American  history,  but  at  the  same  time  he  is  a  historian  for 
all  mankind  and  all  time,  one  of  the  greatest  that  ever  lived." 

The  Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine,  March,  1894,  contained 
an  appreciative  article  on  Francis  Parkman  by  James  Schouler, 
the  prominent  law-writer,  and  author  of  "A  Constitutional 
History  of  the  United  States."  Mr.  Schouler  said,  — 

"  The  illustrious  scholar  and  historian  whose  death  we  have  deplored 
so  recently,  found  physical  drawbacks  to  his  work  to  hinder  and  discour- 
age. But  all  the  greater  is  his  meed  of  success  because  he  surmounted 
them.  His  life  was,  on  the  whole,  a  happy  one,  and  rounded  out  in  rare 
conformity  to  its  appointed  task ;  he  passed  the  Psalmist's  full  limit  of 
years,  as  few  of  our  English-speaking  historians  have  done ;  and,  how- 
ever slow  or  painful  might  have  been  his  progress,  he  completed  in  his 
riper  years  the  great  enterprise  which  he  had  projected  in  early  life. 
Like  one  of  those  fair  roses  which  in  hours  of  recreation  he  so  fondly 
cultivated,  his  literary  reputation  has  lingered  in  full  blossom,  dispersing 
its  delicate  fragrance  and  beauty  among  all  beholders." 

The  following  tribute  is  from  the  pen  of  E.  Irenseus  Steven- 
son, in  Harper's  Weekly  :  — 

"  In  Parkman's  hand,  history  charms  us  as  only  the  finer  fiction  can 
charm.  Clear,  sober,  and  elegant  in  his  style,  a  natural  artist  in  his  dic- 
tion, he  gave  picturesqueness,  life,  movement,  to  what  he  wished  to  set 
before  his  reader.  The  child  and  adult  reader  alike  find  him  acceptable. 
He  sacrificed  nothing  to  mere  literary  effect,  —  sincerity  was  of  his  essence. 


14  FRANCIS  PARKMAN. 

Passages  in  his  books  linger  in  one's  memory  like  chords  of  grave  music ; 
but  not  as  if  the  lamp  and  premeditation  had  enabled  them  to  be  put  into 
the  page.  To  Americans  his  works  are  of  thoroughly  high  interest  and 
importance ;  and  even  in  view  of  the  impermanei.cy  of  so  much  that  is 
delightful,  useful,  and  distinguished  in  the  world's  literature,  it  is  not  easy 
to  fancy  that  they  can  be  superseded."  „ 

The  extracts  given  below  are  from  a  long  review  of  Park- 
man's  Life  and  Works,  in  The  Nation  :  — 

"  The  passing  away  of  Francis  Parkman  leaves  vacant  the  first  place 
among  American  writers  of  history.  His  title  to  this  pre-eminence  has 
been  increasingly  recognized  with  every  new  contribution  to  the  fasci- 
nating series  of  volumes  which  bear  his  name.  .  .  .  The  historical  repu- 
tation of  Mr.  Parkman  —  in  a  considerable  degree  contrasted  with  that 
of  Prescott  and  Motley,  and  very  strikingly  in  contrast  with  that  of  Ban- 
croft —  is  seen  to  be  one  which  steadily  grows  with  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  his  work.  That  this  is  the  case  is  due  not  so  much  to  the 
dignity  of  his  theme  and  its  aptitude  for  splendid  workmanship  upon  it, 
though  his  theme  lacks  nothing  in  this  regard,  as  to  the  personal  quali- 
ties which  Mr.  Parkraan  himself  brought  to  his  undertaking,  —  his  absolute 
sincerity,  his  painstaking  perseverance,  his  fate  moral  sense,  his  judicial  equi- 
poise, his  -wholesome,  uncloistered  sympathy  with  nature  and  with  outdoor 
things,  hisself -repression, and  his  chaste,  unexaggerating,'conscientio2is  literary 
taste-  and  skill.  The  result  is  that  we  have  in  the  volumes  of  Mr.  Park- 
man the  most  graphic  and  most  truthful  of  all  our  American  historical 
writings,  and  the  ones  likely  longest  to  retain  a  place  not  alone  on  library 
shelves,  but  in  living  contact  with  the  eyes  and  hearts  of  men." 

Critics  and  reviewers  of  Parkman's  works  have  been  fond  of 
pointing  out  that  they  read  like  romances,  and  are  more  fasci- 
nating than  novels,  and  readers  have  not  found  such  phrases 
misplaced.  It  may  be  added  that  Parkman  has  influenced 
writers  of  fiction  and  inclined  several  to  select  themes  from 
his  own  chosen  field.  One  of  the  novelists  who  have  paid 
tribute  to  the  great  historian  is  Mary  Hartwell  Cathenvood,  au- 
thor of"  The  Story  of  Tonty,"  "The  Lady  of  Fort  St.  John,"  etc. 
She  says  :  "The  humble  disciple  of  a  great  man  has  always  some 
timidity  in  approaching  him  or  claiming  any  share  of  his  atten- 
tion. I  have  often  wished  I  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Francis  Parkman,  and  might  carry  a  flower  to  his  door  every 
day  and  ask  about  his  health,  and  once  in  a  while  let  loose  upon 


FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  15 

him  all  that  flood  of  questions  which  constantly  rises  in  the 
mind  of  a  student.  The  prime  fascination  of  his  books,  beyond 
their  lucid  style,  their  compact  form,  their  glow  and  breadth  of 
forest  life,  their  presentation  of  transplanted  Latin  men  and 
aboriginal  savage  as  each  existed,  is  their  reliability.  When 
you  have  sifted  a  dozen  contradictory  records,  you  may  turn 
to  him  and  find  that  he  has  been  through  much  more  labor 
before  you,  and  long  ago  from  just  conclusions  wrested  the 
truth.  There  is  scarcely  a  day  in  one's  life  when  his  histories 
are  not  turned  to  as  handbooks.  What  a  loss  if  he  had  never 
written  them  !  " 

In  his  preface  to  "  The  Refugees,"  the  author,  Dr.  Conan 
Doyle,  says :  "  No  man  can,  without  flagrant  injustice,  write 
upon  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  at  the  French  Court, 
without  acknowledging  his  indebtedness  to  Miss  Julia  Pardoe, 
nor  can  he  treat  American  history  of  the  same  date  without 
owing  much  to  Mr.  Francis  Parkman." 

And  the  popular  writer  of  boys'  books,  G.  A.  Henty,  in  his 
preface  to  "  With  Wolfe  in  Canada,"  names  as  one  of  the  two 
sources  from  which  he  derived  "  all  the  historical  details  of  the 
war,"  "  the  excellent  work  entitled  '  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,'  by 
Mr.  Francis  Parkman." 

It  has  been  frequently  suggested  that  the  best  and  most 
enduring  memorial  to  the  great  historian  would  be  an  ade- 
quately illustrated  edition  of  the  noble  works  the  preparation 
of  which  occupied  almost  his  entire  life.  The  suggestions 
have  been  warmly  seconded,  and  have  met  with  favor  every- 
where, and  it  is  understood  that  the  publication  of  such  an 
edition  will  be  begun  in  the  near  future. 

All  of  Parkman' s  works  are  published  by  Messrs.  LITTLE, 
BROWN  &  Co.,  Boston. 


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